Steve Watson

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Steve Watson

Republican Party

Prior offices:

Maricopa County School Superintendent

Years in office: 2017 - 2025

Successor: Shelli Boggs (R)

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last election

July 30, 2024

Education

High school

Thunderbird High School

Graduate

University of Alabama, Birmingham

Personal

Birthplace

Phoenix, AZ

Profession

Educator

Contact

Campaign website

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Steve Watson (Republican Party) was the Maricopa County School Superintendent in Arizona. Watson assumed office in 2017. Watson left office on January 1, 2025.

Watson (Republican Party) ran for re-election for Maricopa County School Superintendent in Arizona. Watson lost in the Republican primary on July 30, 2024.

Watson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Steve Watson was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Watson earned a high school diploma from Thunderbird High School and a graduate degree from the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Watson's career experience includes working as an educator.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Maricopa County, Arizona (2024)

General election

General election for Maricopa County School Superintendent

Shelli Boggs defeated Laura Metcalfe in the general election for Maricopa County School Superintendent on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shelli Boggs (R)	51.4	973,357
		Laura Metcalfe (D)	48.5	918,366
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,470

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,893,193
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent

Laura Metcalfe advanced from the Democratic primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent on July 30, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Laura Metcalfe	99.6	265,984
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	964

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 266,948
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent

Shelli Boggs defeated incumbent Steve Watson and Nickie Kelley in the Republican primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent on July 30, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shelli Boggs	34.3	122,423
		Steve Watson	33.8	120,707
	Submit photo	Nickie Kelley	31.6	112,676
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	1,323

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 357,129
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Watson in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Maricopa County, Arizona (2020)

General election

General election for Maricopa County School Superintendent

Incumbent Steve Watson defeated Jeanne Casteen in the general election for Maricopa County School Superintendent on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Watson (R)	50.3	946,409
		Jeanne Casteen (D)	49.6	934,501
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,771

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,882,681
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent

Jeanne Casteen advanced from the Democratic primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jeanne Casteen	99.5	353,065
		Other/Write-in votes	0.5	1,742

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 354,807
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent

Incumbent Steve Watson advanced from the Republican primary for Maricopa County School Superintendent on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Steve Watson	99.3	355,687
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	2,524

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 358,211
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Maricopa County, Arizona (2016)

Maricopa County held elections for the county board of supervisors, county assessor, county attorney, county recorder, sheriff, county treasurer, and special districts in 2016. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on August 30, 2016. The filing deadline for those wishing to run in this election was June 1, 2016. Steve Watson defeated Michelle Robertson in the Maricopa County school superintendent general election.

Maricopa County School Superintendent, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Steve Watson	51.37%	691,105
	Democratic	Michelle Robertson	48.63%	654,303
Total Votes				1,345,408
Source: Maricopa County Recorder, "2016 General Election Final Results," accessed November 28, 2016

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Steve Watson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Watson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was first elected as Maricopa County School Superintendent in 2016. I focused on bringing change to how instruction is provided in the county’s juvenile detention program: helping our most vulnerable students have positive connections with education and academics in a way that is authentic and engaging.

I believe that every student can learn and be successful. However, our current education system is not suited to helping every student. I have been working to encourage change in a way that every student has an opportunity to learn how to read, write, understand math, and learn to be critical thinkers for themselves.

As a teacher, I taught Career Technical Education and Spanish for the Deer Valley Unified School District. I taught for 15 years, and loved my time at both the middle and high school levels. Married for 25 years, my wife and children contribute to my desire to develop strong schools in Arizona and Maricopa County. My children attend schools in the Paradise Valley Unified School District. I believe every child can learn, and deserves the best teachers and a quality education.

As a Phoenix native, I attended schools in the Cartwright, Alhambra, Washington, and Glendale Union High School Districts. I also attended Glendale Community College and the University of Arizona. I have a B.A. in Spanish and a M.A. in Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Every student can learn. It is the obligation of our education system to change in ways that engage students and help every child find academic success. Student voice is a key part of this equation. We must make what is taught relevant to the lives of our students.
• Engaged parents know what is best for their children, and our education system should be engaged in helping to build and support strong families not supplant them.
• Teachers and their creativity are key to helping each child reach their potential. We are facing an educator shortage in part due to the increasing burdens on educators to focus on things other than the subject matter they are passionate about and trained to teach like math, english, art, science and history.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I ran for this position to be a change agent for what education can look like. The world has radically evolved in the last 100 years, and the way our system teaches children has not.

Schools don’t do enough to support kids struggling to learn to read. Many of these kids are dyslexic, but may not have a specific diagnosis. Due to the cost of research-based solutions for dyslexia, schools are disincentivized from providing needed supports.

I am a passionate advocate for helping incarcerated, foster or dropped out students. This is a significant part of this office’s responsibilities.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My family is amazing. I didn’t know when my wife and I were married years ago, how much she would teach me, or how much I would look up to her and my children. I have been impressed as I have seen my three adult children navigate life and take on new challenges. My younger children teach me about youthful exuberance. They each have unique qualities that make me better.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

As an elected official, I learned early on, that one needs to govern for all constituents. For example, in my role working with education, some of my most important constituents can’t vote. They are children. Honesty, integrity, and stick-to-itiveness are (also important for any elected official. It is also) important for an elected official in addition to be willing to put in the time to read and learn new things in order to engage the community on new policies impacting our communities.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

It is important that the County Superintendent be an education advocate. I have used my voice to promote good education policy with governors, legislators, and school districts.

By state law this office:
Educates incarcerated youth at the county level.
Is the filing office for families who want to Homeschool their children.
Appoints school board members when there is a vacancy on a school board.
Oversees school related elections (school board candidates, bonds, overrides).
Provides financial planning supports to schools (budget monitoring, tax rates).

Operates a high school for disenfranchised youth.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

More transparency is always better. Constituents should have easy access to how each government agency uses their precious tax dollars.
School district budgets can be found on the Arizona Department of Education web site. County budgets can be found on the county web site.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Steve Watson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

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